August 25, 2019 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
Aug. 23-22, 2019
LOCAL
CLASSIFIEDS
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WIRED IN: This painting “Santeria the Goddess” by Stefano Fortis, will be on display in the Afrofuturism exhibit at the Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Festival on Sept.
7–8. Wendie Owen
BLACK TO THE FUTURE
Afrofuturism art exhibit coming to Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint
BY CHANDLER KIDD
The future is now!
An annual book fair focused
on antique volumes will also
peek into the future next month.
The sixth annual Brooklyn Antiquarian
book fair, returning
to the Brooklyn Expo Center in
Greenpoint on Sept. 7, will booksellers
hawking fi rst editions
and rare novels, along with seminars
and art exhibits, including
one showcase titled “One Day
You’ll See: A History of Afrofuturism.”
The exhibit celebrates black
characters in science-fi ction and
futuristic contexts, as featured
in books, paintings, posters, music,
comic books, and sculpture.
The term “Afrofuturism,” was
coined in 1993 by art critic Mark
Dery to refer to 20th Century literature
that combines African-
American characters and stories
about technology, but one of the
show’s thee curators rejects that
defi nition as overly limiting.
“Afrofuturism is a membrane,
it is sort of something
that anybody who is of African
descent can tap into. It is like
a realm of dreams, hopes and
fears,” said Brian Chidester.
The exhibition begins a fi rst
edition of the 1920 book “Darkwater,”
by W.E.B. Du Bois,
which contains a short story
about a black man who is one of
the few people to survive a worldwide
apocalypse. From there
the eclectic exhibition includes
more novels, images of sci-fi
landscapes, and mass-produced
entertainment, including comic
books and music album covers.
Each exhibitor focused on their
Billionaire
buys Nets,
Barclays
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
A billionaire entrepreneur has
agreed to purchase a controlling
stake in Barclays Center and
the Brooklyn Nets for a recordbreaking
$2.35 billion, according
to the Associated Press .
Joseph Tsai, the co-founder
of the Chinese e-commerce giant
Alibaba, fi nalized the deal
to acquire the arena and the remaining
51 percent of the NBA
team for the enormous lump
sum on Aug. 16. The sale now
makes Tsai — who had previously
owned 49 percent of the
team — the sole investor in both
entities.
Tsai will pay $1.35 billion for
the remainder of the Nets, after
purchasing his minority stake
in 2018 for $1 billion. The two
purchases combine to value the
Nets at $2.35 billion — the highest
sale price ever for an American
professional sports franchise,
the AP reports.
The businessman, who boasts
an estimated net worth of just
under $10 billion , will also acquire
the 19,000-seat arena in a
separate transaction for almost
$1 billion, according to the AP.
Tsai put out on statement on
Aug. 16 confi rming the sale, but
not the purchase price, saying
he hopes to continue Barclays
Center’s status as a hub for entertainment
in Brooklyn.
“We are committed to maintaining
Barclays Center’s iconic
status by bringing together culture,
community, and entertainment
for our fans and everyone
in New York,” said the businessman.
The deal provides a massive
windfall for outgoing Nets
owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who
Continued on page 10 Continued on page 12
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